ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts blog seeks to bring together all levels of project management and business analysis expertise, from diverse industries and perspectives, across business groups and information technology. Our goal is build successful collaboration and share content, best practices, techniques, and networking.

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Time is running out to share your feedback and help us develop the ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® 2013 program. We are working to get as many insights as possible this week.

All we ask is for 15 minutes of your time before the end of the week. Anyone who participates in a phone call will be entered to win one pass to the exclusive 2013 webinar series, where you can earn up to 12 PDUs.

Please email the PW&WCBA Producer, Alex Baranick (abaranick@iirusa.com) to set up time for the call.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Papers are being accepted on a rolling basis, we suggest you submit your proposal as early as possible.

The Institute for International Research (IIR) is currently seeking corporate practitioners, authors and experienced facilitators to present at the 2013 ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® conference.

The event will take place September 9-11, 2012 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, FL.

Who and what are we looking for?
Leaders of high profile, complex projects to share their story in an open forum with industry peers.
We are also inviting highly experienced, unbiased project managers, program managers, portfolio managers, PMO heads, system engineers and business analysts. We are particularly interested in experienced corporate practitioners, industry experts and qualified facilitators sharing innovative case studies, techniques, templates that attendees can implements as soon as they get back to the office. Each presentation should demonstrate actionable tangible takeaways.

Please note: Decisions will be based on the alignment of the content with the 2012 agenda content, feedback from the event advisers as well as on industry recognition and/or personal references.

We expect our speakers to move beyond the fundamentals.

2013 Presentation Topic Areas include, but are not limited to:
• Systems Integration
• What's New in Agile?
• Agile, Tools and Metric Tracking
• Cloud Risk: Managing the Risk and Rewards of Cloud Computing
• Defining and Developing the Next Generation of PMs
• Improving the Value of Your PMO
• IT Portfolio Management
• Soft Leadership Skills
• Risk Management
• Building Program Management Expertise
• Motivating Teams and Increasing Team Performance
• Creating a Center of Excellence (Both BA and/or PM)
• Demonstrating the Current Value of Project Management and Business Analysis to Your Organization
• Career Paths for the BA and PM - Where Do You Go After 5 Years?
• Using Six Sigma and LEAN to Improve Project Management
• Requirements Management and Communication
• Funding Models in a Tight Financial Market
• Leading Global Teams
• Change Management
• Reading Verbal and Non-Verbal Cues
• Virtual Engagement
• Lightweight Project Management Tools vs. Heavyweight
• Enterprise Analysis
• Enterprise Architecture
• The Mechanics of Business Process Modeling
• Negotiation Skills for Dealing with Suppliers
• Improved Elicitation Techniques
• Developing Excellent Scoping Skills
• Agile Project Management
• A Systematic Approach to Increase Business Process Performance
• Improving Service Levels with Your Stakeholders
• Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
• Developing a PM Toolkit: The Essentials
• Implementing a Portfolio Management
• Risk Management
• Estimating and Identification of Requirements
• Business Rules: An Important Technique to Capture and Discover What You Need
• Green Practices for the PM and BA
• Getting the Benefits of Consolidating, But Without Doing So
• The Current and Future State of the BA
• Identify and Retain the Best and the Brightest
• Agile: Governance and Decision-Making
• Sustainable Portfolio Management Practices
• Development Techniques that are Flexible and Responsive
• SOA Governance
• Integrating the Business Architecture with Human Performance

BONUS: In addition to the exposure and honor of being a speaker, speakers will also receive FREE admission to the conference, access to the post-conference web seminar series as well as any pre-conference activities ($3,000+ value).

How to Get Accepted:
Priority will be given to presentations that highlight NEW case studies on pushing beyond the PMBOK and BABOK, presenting new skills, techniques and best practices for today's PM and BA worlds. ONLY corporate/client-side speaker will be considered. If you are a consultant, solution provider, technology provider, analyst or consultant, please see sponsorship/exhibit section below.

Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting?
If you are a vendor or solution provider and are interested in showcasing your organization's expertise - Please contact Jon Saxe, Senior Business Development Manager at jsaxe@iirusa.com or 646-895-7467 for more information.
If you were not selected to present and are a vendor or solution provider, you may qualify for additional speaking opportunities available through sponsorship.CALL FOR PRESENTERS:
For consideration, please e-mail abaranick@iirusa.com with the following information by Friday, January, 18, 2013:
• Proposed speaker name, job title, and company name
• Contact information including address, telephone and e-mail
• Title of Presentation (one line, benefit focused)
• A brief summary of content to be delivered (no more than 75 words), followed by 3 bullet points of what the audience will gain from your presentation (key audience takeaways)
• Previous conference speaking opportunities for the last 3 years
• Short bio of speaker (50-75 words)
• Two references with contact information

NOTE: If your proposal is selected, portions of this submission will be printed in the brochure.

Additional Details:
• Commercialism and self-promotion are NOT permitted or tolerated. If this happens, you will NOT be invited to return as a speaker.
• Travel, lodging and other expenses are the responsibility of the speaker.

Thank you for your interest in PW&WCBA. Please visit www.projectworld.com for more information.
* Due to the high volume of submissions, only accepted speakers will be notified. If you are accepted you will be notified by February 12, 2013.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Last week we were pleased to bring the ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts community "A Case Study in Virtual Requirements Facilitation" presented by Faith Hickey, Senior Business Analyst, Doreen Evans Associates, Inc. If you missed the live event, check out the recording by registering here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/673893081

In theory, strategy development is a top-down activity driven by company executives. In reality, few organizations create well-articulated, actionable strategy. Business analysts, project managers, and business architects can fill their company’s void in strategy development by applying the skills they already have to capture strategic requirements and translate them into strategic imperatives and required capabilities. This session will present a step-by-step process for bottom up strategy crafting.

Key Takeaways Will Include:
• Why strategies die early deaths
• How to focus your organization on the work that matters most
• A framework for strategy discovery